Synopsis

One morning in Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob tells Squidward it's time for work and says "another day another dollar" but Squidward says, "more like another nickel," which makes SpongeBob laugh uncontrollably. Squidward then goes through a whole day at work with SpongeBob laughing, and even at night. The next day at work, after SpongeBob told the "nickel joke" to the customers, Squidward has decided he has had enough of SpongeBob's incessant laughter. He then sees SpongeBob hurting himself when he laughs, so he tricks him into believing that SpongeBob has a laugh-related illness. According to the made-up disease, if SpongeBob laughs one more time in the next 24 hours, his laugh box will explode, and he will never laugh or giggle again.

For the rest of the day, SpongeBob fights every single urge to chuckle. First, he sees Patrick trip over a banana peel several times and runs away. Next, he sees that whoopee cushions are all over the town. Last, he sees a pie truck in an accident and some of the pie land on some fish. In a drastic measure, he buries himself never to be interrupted by a joke during the night. The next morning, SpongeBob discovers that he has completely lost the ability to laugh. He tells Patrick that he has lost his laugh, but when Patrick looks inside SpongeBob and lights a match, he runs around in circles.

Later, SpongeBob goes to the Krusty Krab to tell Mr. Krabs that he has lost his laugh. Mr. Krabs says that money always makes him laugh, but SpongeBob doesn't feel a tickle. Next, SpongeBob consults Sandy. Sandy gives SpongeBob books about laughter. SpongeBob reads the books but still doesn't have any effect on his laugh box. Now utterly grief-stricken, all SpongeBob can do is cry his eyes out, meaning more noise than ever. Feeling guilty but still wanting peace and quiet, Squidward finally confesses to the sad SpongeBob, as the weeping has been more annoying than SpongeBob's giggles and after Squidward admits everything, SpongeBob laughs to see it has been a good joke and Squidward joins in the laughter. When Squidward says, "You even fell for the thermometer in the boiling oil routine!" SpongeBob immediately stops laughing, saying it's not really funny and goes inside his house. When Squidward laughs too much, he passes out and is taken to the hospital.

Squidward's laugh box

Later, it is revealed that Squidward has broken his laugh box and Purple Doctorfish points out that someone has given him half of their laugh box. It isn't Patrick, Sandy or Mr. Krabs; it was SpongeBob. Shocked, Squidward starts to laugh like SpongeBob to his horror, before he runs out of the building. SpongeBob then says, "Ah, there he goes off to share his laugh with the world," followed by his own laughter.

Release

Reception

As of September 10, 2018, The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) gives this episode a rating of 7.8/10 based on 277 ratings by users.[1] TV.com users give this episode a rating of 7.8/10 based on 169 votes.[2]

This episode was originally going to be called "Unfunny Pants," but when it aired on Nick, it was changed to "Funny Pants."

This was the first episode to be written by both Luke Brookshier and Tom King. They worked on a total of 19 episodes.

Mr. Krabs is absent when the Krusty Krab closed up in the beginning.

SpongeBob first used the line "Another day, another dollar" in the episode "Krabby Land."

This is the second episode where SpongeBob is fooled by Squidward. The first is "Graveyard Shift."

The plot of this episode is very similar to that of "Fools in April." In both episodes, Squidward plays a prank on SpongeBob in order to get some peace and quiet, SpongeBob became greatly saddened and depressed because of Squidward's prank, and towards the end, Squidward apologizes and then runs off laughing maniacally.

The fez hat Squidward is wearing when he says SpongeBob became a sad sack is also seen in "Good Neighbors."

The Laughing Machine SpongeBob is attached to is similar in appearance to an "iron lung" breathing aid.

This episode marks the second time Squidward's house has grown hands. The first is in "Good Neighbors."

When Squidward plays his clarinet after the "Later that same evening" time card, he plays the same music ("Mary Had a Little Lamb") as in "The Paper," and he still plays it incorrectly.

The episode has a similar title card background to that of "Squirrel Jokes."

This is the only episode where SpongeBob has a squeaky effect to his laugh.

Errors

When Patrick is about to go inside SpongeBob, his pants are a darker shade of green for a second.

When Squidward bursts through the hospital wall near the end of the episode, the heart monitor is still running.

When Squidward runs off his bed in the hospital, it seems like he is walking on air.

When Sandy explains the science of laughter, she pulls down a diagram of a fish. However, the diagram shows the fish with lungs even though fish have gills.

When Sandy tells Patrick if he wants to hear a joke, her tail is there. When SpongeBob says "Sure. I'd love a good laugh" and it cuts right back to them, Sandy's tail is missing. Then, in the next shot, it is back again.

When Sandy says "Flies" when telling Patrick her joke, her lip movements don't correspond with the dialogue.